Elgg vs Fora
Elgg
elgg.org
Fora
fora.soSide by side
| Figure | Elgg | Fora |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · Online Community Platforms | 8.7 (#8) | 8.4 (#13) |
| Spec score · Community Platforms | 8.1 (#59) | 8.1 (#55) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Elgg provides RPC web services for integrations with external applications and mobile clients. | The official comparison mentions no named third-party integrations and says payment connections use the creator’s own stack. |
| Security | Elgg documents bcrypt password hashing, login throttling, input filtering, CSRF tokens, and access control lists. | Fora says it uses HTTPS encrypted transmission and secure authentication flows as reasonable measures to protect information. |
| Self-hosting | Elgg's installation guide describes installing it on your own server using Composer or a pre-packaged ZIP file. | The official pages describe Fora as a hosted platform and provide no self-hosting option. |
| Support | Elgg lists community discussions, technical support forums, and professional service providers as support resources. | The contact page provides a form and the address [email protected] for assistance. |
| What it does | Elgg is an open source framework for building socially aware web applications where users log in and share information. | Fora presents itself as a platform where creators sell courses, coaching calls and downloads from a branded page, with an assistant members can question. |
Plans
In their own words
Elgg
Elgg is a free, open-source framework for building web applications where people sign in and share information. It can serve as a foundation for campus networks, organizational collaboration platforms, or company communications tools. Hooks and events let plugins extend or change application behavior, while the view system supports custom themes. Granular content access policies can support private networks and intranets; user groups and a file storage API provide building blocks for managing members and their files. Elgg supports on-site and email notifications, as well as RPC web services for external applications and mobile clients. Its listed security features include anti-CSRF validation, XSS filters, HMAC signatures, and password hashing. The project offers documentation, tutorials, an API reference, community discussions, and a repository with more than 1,000 open-source plugins. It is free to download, install, and use. The full package with core plugins is offered under GPLv2; the framework without plugins is offered under MIT. Self-hosting requires a database and a configured cron job for background tasks.
Fora
Fora is a web-based white-label community platform for creators, educators, and coaches. It combines discussions, courses, events, and a member directory in one branded space. Communities can use a Fora subdomain or a custom domain owned by the creator. Course material can be arranged into chapters and lessons, while a leaderboard ranks members by posts, completions, and activity. Fora supports event hosting and lists a 5,000-member limit, with Starter and Pro plans shown for 200 and 5,000 members respectively. The FAQ says most communities can launch in under 20 minutes without code or infrastructure setup. Fora is in beta and free, with no credit card or trial period. Starter and Pro are each listed at free, billed monthly; Enterprise lists unlimited members but no price. There are no mobile apps. Fora says it does not sell personal information, though it may share data with service and analytics providers. Beta terms do not guarantee uptime or service availability.